Nina is lovely; it's short, sweet, and old-fashioned, but not too frilly or complicated.

I think Nina is a old name that is not widely used anymore... I like it because it would be different, but not too out there.

NINA-NICOLE: I like this hyphen name because it is an alliteration and has two very girly and yet not very common names. I think it sounds very catchy too - like they are meant to be linked together!!

Nina began in Russia and Italy as a short form of names ending in -nina such as Antonina and Giannina. From there it spread to the rest of Europe, some of its popularity possibly being due to the fact that it is similar to the Spanish niņa meaning "little girl." It is now often used by itself.

On an unrelated note, Nina was also one of the names of the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar.